Vanished!

Name: Vanished!
ISBN: 9787505761056

中西智明 / 白夜China Friendship Publishing Company · ChinaNov 2025

3.9

Word count: 122K words
Chapters: 22
ISBN: 9787505761056

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Summary

Three murders strike a certain city. The first victim, a woman named Mary, dies next door to a rock band's rehearsal room; the second victim, Yuji, is found by his mother lying dead on the grass; the third victim, Jun, vanishes without a trace, and the detective Shinji Niidera is hired to investigate. What Mary, Yuji, and Jun share is striking: all three are redheads. Stranger still, both murderer and victims seem to have vanished from the scenes into thin air!

Who is the mastermind behind it all? And how was it done? As the investigation deepens, Niidera discovers that these three seemingly unconnected cases—linked only by red hair—are gradually converging toward a single point...

Three distinct perspectives, three intricately constructed schemes, dazzling and audacious multiple reversals, a reading experience akin to magic—hailed by readers as "a masterpiece of the first generation of New Honkaku."

Editor's review

A suspenseful mystery co-written by Tomoaki Nakanishi and Bai Ye, *Disappearance!* builds a tightly logical psychological labyrinth. Rather than relying on the usual escape-room or identity-swap formulas, it probes the philosophical boundary between existence and memory through layered detail and shifting perspectives. The atmosphere is its strongest asset: the narrative slides from everyday trivia into cognitive dissonance with the slow, inexorable pace of a frog in warming water, drawing readers into the protagonist's deepening doubt about self and surroundings. The foreshadowing pays off with precision; many early details that seem incidental become keys that overturn everything. Bai Ye keeps the plot fluid and cinematic, while Nakanishi—a Japanese author known for honkaku mystery, here presented in a Chinese collaborative edition—supplies the solid core of the trick and the chain of logic. Overall, this is a book that demands attention and thought; its ending delivers not only the solution but a chill about identity itself. For readers who relish intellectual challenge and immersive psychological suspense, it offers satisfaction far beyond casual entertainment.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Hardcore mystery fans who prefer honkaku reasoning and rigorous logical chains
Readers who enjoy psychological suspense and stories that unsettle long after reading
Reflective readers interested in philosophical and psychological questions of identity and the authenticity of memory
Patient close readers who appreciate layered detail and the payoff of planted clues

Not a good fit for

Casual readers seeking light entertainment, fast pacing, or heavy action
Readers impatient with psychological description and slow atmospheric buildup

Reading tips

Pay close attention to timeline details and subtle contradictions in dialogue—these are often the keys to the puzzle
Read in a quiet setting where you can concentrate, the better to immerse yourself in the psychological space the author builds
After finishing, revisit earlier passages; many overlooked details will take on entirely new meaning

About the publisher

China Friendship Publishing Company China · Founded in 1983

China Friendship Publishing Company is a comprehensive publisher known for its literary titles, covering classical Chinese literature, foreign literature, folk literature and cultural appreciation. According to the books in the database, its classical list includes celebrated dramas and novels such as The Peony Pavilion, The Romance of the Western Chamber and Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, as well as note-style classics like Hong Mai's Rongzhai Suibi. In foreign literature it offers translations of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Kawabata Yasunari's Snow Country and Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl, involving translators such as Zeng Siyi. It also publishes The Complete Literary Works of Lu Xun and titles associated with the "Xue'er Shuguan" editorial group, balancing the collation and popularization of classic texts. Public information on its publishing features and plans is limited; the above is summarized only from the books in the database.

版权信息
主要登场人物
第一章三回死亡
1 玛丽
2 裕二
3 纯
第二章三场消失
1 玛丽
2 裕二
3 纯
第三章三次接近
1 玛丽、裕二
2 裕二、纯
3 纯、玛丽
第四章一举解决
1 玛丽
2 玛丽、裕二
3 玛丽、裕二、纯
中西智明超短篇合集
简中版新增短篇：吸血鬼缺席的采访
后记
作者解说

FAQ

How is this book rated on Douban?

On Douban the book falls in a solid range (the exact score changes dynamically; check the platform for current data). Reader reviews tend to praise its ingenious trick design, strong suspense control, and the surprise of its ending.

Who is Nakanishi Tomoaki? Is he a Japanese author?

Yes. Tomoaki Nakanishi is a Japanese mystery writer known for honkaku (orthodox puzzle) mystery. This book is a Chinese translated edition of his work, compiled or co-presented by the Chinese author/translator Bai Ye to suit Chinese readers.

What kind of core puzzle does the book present? Does it involve supernatural elements?

The core puzzle revolves around a person's disappearance and a fog of identity; it is psychological suspense and honkaku mystery set in a realistic world. The story rests on explainable logic and human psychology, with no supernatural forces—its strangeness comes from precise plotting and the exploitation of cognitive blind spots.

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About the author

中西智明 Author

Nakanishi Tomoaki is an author about whom little public information is available. To date, one work is known under this name, Disappearance!, which is commonly classified as suspense and mystery fiction. Because no clear records of the author's life, nationality, or period of writing exist, it is difficult to trace a full creative trajectory. The representative work nonetheless shows the author working within the framework of mystery and suspense, using "disappearance"—an image rich in enigma—as the core, suggesting that the story may revolve around classic mystery motifs such as missing persons, concealed truths, or broken chains of clues. Such fiction typically relies on suspense, interwoven clues, and final reversals to sustain tension, placing considerable demands on the author's control of structure. As the only work by Nakanishi Tomoaki available in the collection, Disappearance! serves as the main entry point for understanding the author's writing orientation and offers a glimpse of narrative interests within the suspense and mystery genre.

白夜 Author

Bai Ye is a Chinese author about whom little public information is available. Six works can currently be confirmed, spanning mystery fiction and otherworld fantasy. The mystery titles include Knife and Umbrella, The Tragedy of Twin Moon City, The Rough and Vague Phantom Thief's Warning Letter: Case Files of the Metropolitan Police Special Investigation Unit, Disappeared!, and the three-volume Escape Room Mystery Game, whose titles point to a clear fondness for classic devices such as locked-room puzzles, phantom-thief warnings, and police special-investigation procedurals. The three-volume format of Escape Room Mystery Game suggests considerable attention to puzzle design. Light's Successor, meanwhile, is classed as otherworld fantasy, showing that Bai Ye does not confine himself to a single genre. Overall, his output is not large, yet it ranges across honkaku-style deduction and fantasy adventure, with plots driven mainly by tricks and suspense. As no reliable records of his birth and death dates, nationality, or life history have been found, no speculation is offered here.